I am an Asian interested in the sciences, but I am also low income and first generation. Would these two things have a canceling effect in the eyes of an admissions officer? I know that there are more important aspects of an application, but how much do these hooks help?
You don’t have hooks. A hook is a reason why a school would want you ahead of others with a similar profile. Examples of hooks would be being a recruited athlete, a URM, the child of a huge donor, being Malia Obama or something along those lines.
If you’re low income, look into applying through Questbridge next year. www.questbridge.org
@happy1 First gen is a hook…is it not?
@PandaTrope - are you a domestic applicant or international?
It’s not a hook. It’s a consideration if all things are equal. e.g. your ACT score in the midst of a non-college educated household is seen as a greater accomplishment with someone with a similar ACT but from a background where parents are college educated.
A hook is literally, something that a college searches for. First Gen is not difficult to find.
It may help a bit at some schools, but not a hook.